State to proceed with first-degree murder counts in farm worker death

Two people charged in the May murder of a Littleton area farmhand will be prosecuted on first-degree murder charges, the state announced today in Halifax County Superior Court.

Assistant District Attorney Keith Werner told Judge Alma Hinton the state would not proceed with a capital case against Shenna Kay Riley and Jovonte Boone because aggravating factors did not outweigh the mitigating factors in the case.

Both defendants were acquainted with the victim, Nestor Salazar Moctexuma, 51, who was a year round farm worker in Halifax County, the sheriff’s office said at the time.

He was found deceased the morning of May 20 in a mobile home in the Airlie Road area of Littleton.